wonder why she hides in a garden of thorns? they, and their cutting words, as she in the petals of a red rose. she tells me it was the hardest time of her life. how she had not learned of self-love. a month later. there was no way to let go of the pain. a fragrance. before the mocking laughter of crowds. how the petals had wilted. it felt as though her mind had tossed in the wind.